Flymen Blog
Everything we create in the search to fool fish is an imitation of life, a suggestion of realism.
A size 16 Adams, a 4/0 Flashabou streamer, and even a #14 Husky Jerk are all attempts to convey the same thing to the fish we target with them — that they are food.
How closely they imitate life, and how well they suggest their intended identity are what make flies successful, or not.
What I want to discuss is a simple idea, and this idea applies to every fly, lure, and flure that has, or ever will exist. The idea is in regards to a predator's search image, and its impacts on design and design simplicity.
What is a search image?
Fly recipe
Rear
- Hook: #2 Gamakatsu B10s
- Tail: Flashabou
- Tail 2: Senyo's Fusion Dub
- Body: Senyo's Fusion Dub
- Wing: Magnum Rabbit Strip
Front
- Hook: #1 Gamakatsu B10s
- Body: Senyo's Fusion Dub
- Body 2: EP Tarantula Brush
- Pectoral Fins: Deer Hair
- Wing: Magnum Rabbit Strip
- Head: Fish-Skull Sculpin Helmet
Everyone has their own style of fishing whether it be with a spinning rod or a fly rod.
Those of us who choose to pick up a fly rod also have our little own niches in which we choose to stick with.
Unfortunately, we tend to put our streamer boxes aside during this time of year and stick to more traditional approaches.
Yes, it’s exhilarating to watch that giant brown trout come to the surface and take your size 18 dry fly as you fish a tail out of a pool or a nice steady run, but what is more heart pumping than watching that same giant fish chase your 4” to 8” streamer from bank to bank and demolish your fly on the strip or the end of your swing?
Putting the POP back in popper flies.
This may be the most exciting time to be involved in fly fishing!
In recent years, fly fishing has rapidly evolved at an unprecedented rate.
No longer restricted to trout or salmon, fly fishing has become "anything goes if it's on the fly," with fly anglers now able to actively target and land virtually any species of freshwater or saltwater gamefish on a fly rod.
As fly anglers expand their horizons, the hunt for more species in widely varied types of fisheries across the world is rapidly driving the need for innovation in the fly fishing industry with specialized flies and equipment for enticing and landing these fish.
